


stories by starlight

by prongs117



Category: The Little Mermaid (1989)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Pure Unadulterated Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-09
Updated: 2018-04-09
Packaged: 2019-04-20 18:33:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14267085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prongs117/pseuds/prongs117
Summary: “What are you doing?” she asked, amused. “Eric, we just can’t leave.”“Of course we can. Come on.”





	stories by starlight

The castle on top of the cliff was arrayed for a splendid evening. The ballroom sparkled and shone with crystals, jewels and candlelight. The guests, attired in silks, furs and velvet, greeted each other, asking after husbands and wives, children, dogs and horses. Lovers flirted and blushed, hearts broken and mended.

And Ariel was enjoying herself. She had started out the night with some trepidation for she has not yet mastered the game of courtly intrigue everyone around her already played with ease. However much to her surprise, the evening had proceeded smoother than she expected. She danced with two gallant gentlemen daring enough to approach her, tasted the heavenly cream puffs and drank champagne which she adored. She loved the way they bubbled and sparkled and made her feel like sparkling too. Every time Eric caught her eye across the crowded room, she raised her glass at him and gave him a small grin. He smiled and turned his attention back to the elderly count who had cornered him early in the evening.

During a lull in the conversation Ariel was having with a young duke and his circle of companions, she felt someone come up behind her and place his hand on the small of her back.

“Do you want to get out of here?” Eric whispered, close enough to keep anyone else from overhearing.

She shivered at the warmth of his breath on her neck and nodded, taking her half-empty wineglass with her.

“Come on.” He took her hand and led her away from the crowd, nodding at the bows and greetings that came their way.

“Where are we going?” she asked curiously, excited. It was unlike her husband to take off from a ball he himself was the host.

“It’s a secret.” He turned back to her and winked.

She giggled and drained her wineglass and left it on the stone balcony outside the doors of the ballroom.

He led her down the balcony stairs and down the path leading away from the ball, the torches outside the only light guiding their way.

“What are you doing?” she asked, amused. “Eric, we just can’t leave.”

“Of course we can. Come on.”

They walked past the fountains and topiary lining the paths of the formal garden, past the flower beds already blooming in a riot of colors, around the little hedge maze with the birdbath in the center and finally arrived at a small bench hidden behind a fountain depicting Neptune and three nymphs disporting themselves, unaware of their two visitors.

By this time, Ariel had removed her shoes and she now threw them on the bench followed by herself.

“Eric, what are we doing here?” she asked again, holding her hand out to him.

He sat on the bench and she promptly put her feet on his lap. 

“Well, I couldn’t get any time with you in there,” he waved his hand in the direction of the castle behind them, “So I had to bring you out here.”

She giggled again, filled with champagne, excitement and love.

“What about everyone else?” She didn’t really care about them but she thought she ought to remind him.

“They can manage without us. They’ll drink and laugh and dance and talk.”

“And gossip,” she added.

“Yes,” he nodded. “They’ll gossip about the silly lovesick prince who couldn’t stand being separated from his lovely bride for one more second.”

“Oh, they already say that about you,” she teased.

He laughed, the sound ringing out in the darkness, mingling with the tinkling of the fountain and the hooting of the owls.

“So what do you want to do now?”

“Well,” he placed her feet back on the bench and stood up, straightening his dark blue coat. “I still have not claimed my dance with you tonight. May I?”

He bowed, offering her his hand. It was a gesture he had made a hundred, maybe a thousand times before in marble halls and gilded rooms but not yet in the quiet of a springtime garden to a barefoot princess.

“My pleasure,” she replied taking the proffered hand.

In the distance, the orchestra started up a new piece, the faint sound drifting towards them carrying with it the nighttime scents of jasmine and lilac.

Ariel had learned a number of formal court dances during her time on land which she practiced and mastered with alacrity for she loved the way her legs moved and her body swayed in time to the melody. This dance however was unlike any of those. Eric held her close, his hands on her waist, her arms circling his neck. Despite the music, they moved to some other tune in their heads, slow and dreamy, full of lingering pauses.

“Better?”

He smiled in answer, faint torchlight and stray moonlight catching at his features.

“I’m glad you had a good time tonight,” he said after a while.

“Your cousin Frederick stared down everyone who even thought of breathing an impertinent remark in my direction.”

“Ah, good old cousin Fred. I always liked him. Never tried to lock me in a broom closet or pushed me into a lake. He did pour a freezing jug of water on my head when I was reading in the library once.” He paused. “At least I thought it was water. We were ten.”

“And gave you your first glass of brandy,” she remarked impishly.

He groaned, embarrassed at the memory. “Does he go around telling everyone that story? There must be some sort of law I can dig up to prevent nosy cousins from spreading stories of the youthful mishaps of their monarchs.”

“Oh don’t. I love hearing all about your ill-advised escapades. Especially when told by someone who does not care about his reputation.”

“Very well. As long as he keeps his mouth shut about the goose and Elisabeth. It’s no wonder they ended up marrying each other, they were both passionate about one thing as children: torturing me.”

“I already heard about that” she said, enjoying the sight of her usually proper and correct husband discomfited by the mention of childhood pranks.

“So now that you are now party to tales of my misspent youth, will I ever hear about yours?”

“Ask any of my sisters, Andrina especially. She’s the closest to me in age and there was a time I followed her around incessantly. She has many stories she could embarrass me with.”

“You have to introduce me sometime,” he said, reminding her that he still has not met her sisters properly. They all introduced themselves to him during their wedding but he would not be able to tell them apart if they were to appear before him now.

As if the remark prompted Ariel to remember something, she stopped dancing and collected her discarded shoes.

“Come on,” she said, echoing his action from earlier in the evening, pulling him along with her.

“Where?”

“Just come,” she insisted, gathering the heavy skirt of her dress and picking her way towards the other side of the garden.

Eric could tell they were heading to the path that lead towards the shore, leaving the carefully manicured lawn behind them.

“Ariel, put your shoes on. The rocks can cut your feet.”

But she didn’t hear him, intent on finding her way in the dark. He followed her, guided by the sound of her feet and the gleam of moonlight on her hair. 

“Wait.” He caught up with her on top of rough-hewn steps that led to the beach below.

“Let me,” he said, sweeping her into his arms. Cradling his wife close, his hands lost in the voluminous folds of her gown, he slowly descended down the steps, the music and the sound of the fountain receding, slowly replaced by the gently lapping waves. She placed the discarded heap of shoes on her lap and put her hands around his neck as before. Unlike when they were dancing though, she can now see his face clearly, moonlight bathing both of them in its soft glow.

Eric glanced at his wife, who was staring intently at him, and stopped for a second. He knew she could tell that he was blushing and flustered. Her gaze when it was like that, concentrated on only him still made him feel lightheaded and giddy at times. Suddenly remembering the precarious position they were in, he cleared his throat awkwardly and proceeded down slowly, now studiously avoiding her eyes.

“Where to?,” he asked when they gained the shore.

“Just here.”

He deposited her on the soft sand just beyond the reach of the waves and folded himself down beside her.

They both sat quietly for a while, Ariel intent on the broad expanse before them and Eric wondering what they had come here to see.

“Look. There,” she pointed.

He didn’t see anything for a time then he noticed a slight sinuous movement in the waves farther out. Then a tail smoothly sliced through the water and just as quickly disappeared. Then another. Then another. He counted at least six of them. Finally he saw them break through the surface, moonlight reflecting water-slicked hair and bare shoulders. They were far enough away that he couldn’t clearly make out their features.

Ariel laughed and gave a small wave. One or two waved back.

“Who are they?” he asked in wonderment.

“That’s Alana.” She indicated the one of the mermaids who waved at her although at this distance he couldn’t distinguish them from each other. “And some friends.”

“What are they doing here?”

“Some of us always come up to the surface on nights like these. I liked looking at the lights in the castle. I could always tell when there’s a party by the torches in the garden.”

He looked behind them, trying to imagine how the castle would have looked to someone on the sea, particularly a little girl dreaming of dancing and firelight and wildflowers.

“You could’ve said hello,” he said knowing he sometimes came out here by himself or with Max after his guests have turned in for the night.

Ariel gave a small laugh at the idea. “I never dared come closer. You would’ve run away.”

“I wouldn’t,” he protested. “Max would probably.”

He could see the mermaids swimming slowly away from the shore and eventually disappearing beneath the waves.

“Did I scare them off?”

“No. We—,“ she caught herself, “—that is, they, are more easy now about coming to the surface. At least around these shores. I’ve told them all about you.”

He nodded, smiling. He liked that, he liked living in a place where mermaids felt safe enough to venture out and explore.

Suddenly they could hear the crackle of fireworks above them and the sky lit up with a waterfall of sparkling lights. They gazed up at the magnificent display, red, purple and golden light reflecting on their faces, until the sounds died down and view above was nothing but smoke and clouds and faint starlight. In the castle, ladies picked up their skirts and fans and escorted by gallantly attired gentlemen into their carriages. 

“Should we go back? You’re shivering.” He removed his jacket and draped it around her shoulders.

“Not yet. Let’s stay awhile.” Then as if to convince him, she added, “I’ll tell you a story.”


End file.
